It goes without saying (even though we’re about to say it), businesses thrive through innovation.  One needn’t look farther than the likes of Apple or Google’s clockwork product iterations to understand why.

It’s because people, in general, love new things in favour of the old.  Especially when those new things perform better, have more features, and project a higher status.  More importantly, however,  is that businesses that don’t innovate, that are happy with the way things are, don’t just risk becoming stagnant, they can risk decay.

What this does is make innovating a necessity, not just a luxury.  But what exactly does that mean?  And how can it be practically applied in real-world, actionable ways?

The first place an organization should look to innovate is within their own framework and backbone.  The hardware and software that make up the foundation of how your business conducts business.  It’s akin to eating healthier and exercising; if what’s on the inside isn’t receiving the right nutrients, the whole system suffers.  In this case, I.T. is the circulatory system of all business in the 21^st century.

Sometimes it can just be a matter of optimizing and finding new efficiencies.  For example, your I.T. should be able to provide you with real time monitoring of your most important systems of your business, be that communications, sales, manufacturing, or construction.  Whatever it is that your business does, if you can’t get a snapshot its heartbeat in a moment’s notice you may be working with outdated technology. When applied to collaboration alone, something as simple as switching to Microsoft Teams can improve the circulatory system of an organization, and therefore create efficiencies across the board.

Sometimes, however, it’s a matter of solving a complex problem.  And here’s where having a team or individual dedicated to not only figuring out and fixing an issue, but also improving upon the original expected outcome is so integral.  It’s not enough to just repair what’s always worked, it’s about growing in the right direction through innovation.

Moreover, it isn’t about just doing things faster, it’s about doing things better, so that the outcomes are better.  That’s real, sustainable growth, that isn’t tied to the number of “units outputted”, but rather the health of the organism outputting.  This manifests in how well your business manages its resources, how well it understands and utilizes its own data, and how quickly it can pivot when doing so means landing a big new client or customer.

None of these things are possible when your I.T. is neglected.  For small and medium sized businesses, it’s a risk simply not worth taking.  Especially when there are always options, and experts like Keystone who can help guide and implement those solutions.  There are always new ways to do things when it comes to I.T., that’s why we love what we do, it’s exciting to see how we can help others thrive with our tools and expertise.

We start every new relationship with a conversation.  To find out how we can help your business drive stronger results, call or email us today.